Before speaking with a massive group of reporters, Gordon took an extra lap on track alongside his longtime friend, rival and fellow Hoosier, Tony Stewart in what will likely be both drivers’ final circuit of the famed speedway. He’ll start third, right behind pole victor Kyle Busch, after going 184.328 in qualifying.
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But Busch’s domination overshadowed everything and everyone.
Capping a dominating weekend, Kyle Busch led a race-record number of laps to handedly win the Brickyard 400 Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Busch beat Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth to the finish line by just over two seconds to complete a clean sweep in Indy.
Busch was the pole-sitter in Saturday’s Xfinity Series event and won it and did the same on Sunday. Stewart and Gordon indeed found each other after Kyle Busch won the race and they drove around the track together to the delight of what was left of the sun-baked crowd.
“It was a great and special weekend for us”. This year featured wide smiles from Gordon, his wife and two children during pre-race introductions, and an equally large grin when Gordon exited his vehicle following the race. While Busch has swept race weekends many times before, he had never been able to do so from the pole position in both races.
“I guess, I didn’t expect it”, Busch said when asked about his dominance.
Busch only surrendered the lead once – when he pitted after 27 laps – and retook the lead when Brendan Gaughan made his pit stop. At one point, he had two-thirds of the field lapped. “And I think it’s only fitting that all of us in this room, along with the millions of fans around the world, recognize what you’ve brought to this sport and congratulate you on all you’ve done. and say, ‘Thank you'”. Johnson finished third Sunday. He led the final 109 laps and 149 of the 170 overall.
Baker won three times in his 54 races in the auto and logged almost 10,000 laps. Got us a lap down. “To me, he was driver that showed class any time he came out on the track”.
“I’ve never had a dominant vehicle like this at Indy”, Busch said.
On the ensuing restart, with three to go, Busch pulled away but a collision between Trevor Bayne and Clint Bowyer forced the race into its first overtime. Busch more than held his own on the restarts, putting his frustration over the cautions out of his mind long enough to make sure no one would pass him.
“It didn’t want to see that”. Everything went the way we wanted it to. You never know what’s going to happen on restarts. There’s gamesmanship that’s going to be played. Busch has been excellent at restarts all year long but even with his prowess, he would have much rather just glided to victory.
Lining up second on the final restart, Logano had a glimmer of hope. This restart wouldn’t count either, but it might have been to Busch’s benefit as Logano was side-by-side with Busch entering the south short chute.
Gordon and Stewart took a final, slow lap in tandem at the conclusion of the race.
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Stewart got back on the lead lap, and things got even dicier as he worked his way towards 11th. A timetable for Earnhardt’s return has not been set. No drivers were injured in any of the accidents. Gordon said. “And to see what he’s done and how tough he is as a competitor; I’ve always known what a great guy and what a great race auto driver he is, and now I know more about who Tony Stewart really is”. Gordon came out of retirement to replace Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has battled concussion-like symptoms and has missed two consecutive races and will also sit out next week at Pocono.
